#31 - Happy 130th Birthday Gulborg Gulbrandsen

Gulborg Kristine Gulbrandsen

Today is Gulborg's 130th birthday, having been born on October 17, 1890, in Oslo, Norway (when she was born, Oslo was called Christiania.)  Her parents were Karl Anton Gulbransen and Charlotte Emilie Gustava Larsen.  She was the fifth of six children born to Karl and Charlotte and the third of four daughters.  

Her siblings were: Ragnhild Petrine (born August 20, 1880), Arthur Emanuel (born September 22, 1882), Borghild Marie (born March 11, 1885), Karl Eugen (born November 1, 1888), and Karoline Antonette (born September 5, 1892).  All were born in Oslo.  Also, those were some interesting Norwegian names!

#30 - German-American Day 2020

German-American Day 2020

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed October 6 as German-American Day to celebrate and honor the 300th anniversary of German immigration and culture to the United States.  Presidents since then have continued to make proclamations to observe German-American Day.

For German-American Day 2020, I would like to highlight my German Ancestors on my Gillen family line which is through my grandmother Anna Marie Gillen Summers.  My grandmother is ⅞^ths German and ⅛^th Swiss.  But today, we are going to look briefly at her German heritage.  

#29: Irving and Clifford Olsen - The Original Olsen Twins

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020-28)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of July 12 is "Multiple" so let me introduce you to the Original Olsen Twins - Irving and Clifford Olsen.

#28: Peter Schmitz - Fireman

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020-27)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of July 5 is "Solo."

Today, let me introduce you to Peter P. Schmitz, who was a firefighter in New York City.  His is our family's "solo" paid firefighter.  All the others in the family were volunteer firefighters.

Peter Schmitz, Jr., 1941.  From the collection of ©Virginia Summers Olsen

#27: Ada "Sweet" Dandridge Ball (1880-1971)

Ada as a young girl.  Scanned images from a family scrapbook.  Enhanced by MyHeritage.com  ©Edward R. Olsen 2020

Ada and her early life with her parents

Ada Dandridge Ball was born in Richmond, Virginia on Sunday, May 23, 1880.  Her parents were Augustus William Ball (1848-1929) and Isora Lee (1848-1929).  She was their only child.  Ada has two very unique names.  Those names appear elsewhere in the family tree, so I assume that she was named after those others.  She was likely named Ada after her mother's sister Ada Wilson Lee Davidson (1858-1935) and Dandridge after her paternal grandfather Dandridge Ball.

#26: Handed Down - Crocheted Crafts

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020-24)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of June 10 is "Handed Down."  If your keeping track of my blog posts, you will see that I am running late on posting this on time!

So what am I covering in this week's post with the theme "Handed Down?"  I'm writing about the crocheting that my grandmother Emma Dorothy Hillenbrand Olsen did.

#25: Unexpected: Eleanor "Ella" Ruth Voorhees (1844-1939)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020-25)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of June 17 is "Unexpected."

A couple of months ago the website Newspapers.com gave free access to all of their collections.  I was looking for some obituaries for the Ohio Voorhees family at that time.  And I came upon an unexpected newspaper article with pictures and an additional obituary for Eleanor "Ella" Ruth Voorhees.  The obituary and additional newspaper article provide many details about Ella's long life.

The Ohioans! - An Introduction

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020 - 17)

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks genealogy blog prompt for this week is Land.  I've been struggling with the content for this week's post based on that prompt. Amy Johnson Crow's email this week that highlights this week's prompt gave some hints or advice on how you can apply this week's prompt. In her email she writes:

Week 17's theme is "Land." Farming ancestors, homesteaders, and military bounty land claimants are all on deck this week. Who does "land" make you think of?

Matrimonial Monday: Anna Marie Gillen and Charles William Summers

The years of the Great Depression continued in 1935.  However, life still went on during this time.

Charles "Charlie" William (Soltis) Summers had returned to Long Island, New York from his second tour of duty in the Army in 1930  He was working in a gas station on Main Street in Hempstead.

Anna Marie Gillen was still living at the home of her parents. Edward and Caroline Gillen in North Merrick, Long Island, New York.

Tombstone Tuesday #3: Sidney D. Rogers and Susan Elizabeth Lloyd Rogers

Tombstone Tuesday is a genealogy blogging prompt where the blogger posts and shares about a tombstone.  Today's post is about Sidney D. Rogers and Susan Elizabeth Lloyd Rogers.

Based on information in the 1900 US Census, Sidney D. Rogers (1865-1924) and Susan Elizabeth "Bettie" Lloyd (1868-1918) were married sometime in 1884-1885.

Rogers Family plot marker.  Image from FindAGrave.com.  Image ©S. Curry.

John Faris (1766 - 1826)

I had originally intended this to be one blog post, but have decided to combine two "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" blog prompts into one post about one ancestor.  The prompts I am combining are Week 18: "Where There's a Will" and Week 21: "Tombstone."

John Faris (born 1766) and his wife Eleanor Belt (born 1772) were early settlers of Fleming County, Kentucky.  At this time, they are both brick wall ancestors.  I'm able to trace back to these ancestors, but can't go back any further.  The documentation I have about them is very scarce also.  My wife's family has a family tree that I received years ago and the only information that I have for them is their names, their birth dates, marriage date, and that they were parents of Joseph Belt Faris, born July 24, 1800, in Fleming County, Kentucky.

Unfortunately, I did not do a good job of asking questions when I received the chart.  I do know that it was made by Ada "Sweet" Danbridge Ball, but I do not know when it was created. It was likely made to support her Daughters of the American Revolution application.  I also do not know where Sweet got her information from nor do I have any supporting documentation to verify the information in it.

Cropped image of the undated documented family tree by Ada D. Ball in the personal collection of ©Edward R. Olsen 2020. 

Edward Louis Gillen - North Merrick Fire Department

My family has a long history with Fire Departments.  Here is just one of those stories...

The IFFD ribbons are linked to colours symbolic of the main elements firefighters work with – red for fire and blue for water. 

International Firefighters Day is being observed today, Monday, May 4, 2020. It is a day in which current and past firefighters can be thanked for their contributions.  So I would like to recognize the service of our one of our family's first firefighters: Edward L. Gillen.

Emma Hillenbrand Olsen - Our own Rosie the Riveter

Emma Dorthy Hillenbrand Olsen (1924-2011) and Clifford Olsen (1922-1966) were married on November 28, 1943 at Grace Lutheran Church in Bellmore, New York.  This was one year after Clifford had enlisted in the army.

Edited digital image of framed bridal photograph of Emma Hillenbrand Olsen in the personal collection of ©Virginia Summers Olsen.

Charles William (Soltis) Summers - North Merrick Fire Department

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020 - 15)

My family has a long history with Fire Departments.  Here is just one of those stories...

Photo Credit: Mark Barone, longislandfiretrucks.com.

A Virtual Easter Parade Through the Years

It's been a while since I've posted a Family History Blog Post!

Contemporary History: COVID-19

I thought I'd start this post off with some current events as we are living through history right now in 2020.  As family looks back on this post in years to come, I'd like to give some personal perspective about the COVID-19 or Corona Virus.

Family Recipe Friday #1: Crumb Cake

Family Recipe Friday is a genealogy blogging post prompt suggested by by Lynn Palermo of The Armchair Genealogist where you share recipes with family and fellow bloggers.

Charles William (Soltis) Summers - Mechanic

On February 23, 1893, Rudolf Diesel received a patent in Germany for the engine that bears his name. The diesel engine burns fuel oil rather than gasoline and is used in trucks and heavy industrial machinery.  The anniversary of the invention of the Diesel engine is the inspiration for this week's family history post.

Charles William (Soltis) Summers (April 2, 1906 - January 29, 2002) first enlisted in the Army in New York City on February 2, 1924 at the age of 17.  At the time, he lied about his birth year in order to enlist and said he was born in 1904.   "I was sent to Mitchell Field on Long Island, New York.  Then I was sent back to Ohio for mechanics training."[1]  He graduated from Air Corps Tech School on February 5, 1926.  This was the beginning of Charles' long career with mechanics.  After being trained in Ohio, he was transferred back to Mitchell Field and became part of the First Observation Squadron.  At this time, the U. S. Air Force had not yet been formed.  He was part of the Air Service which later became the U.S. Army Air Corps on July 2, 1926.  He was a mechanic at Mitchell Field until being discharged on February 1, 1927.

Tombstone Tuesday #2 (but on a Thursday!): Ludvig Almandus Olsen

Note: I had originally planned this post to appear on Tuesday, but in doing some last minute research, I came across additional information that made it so I had to delay posting.

Ludvig Almandus Olsen was born Friday, May 13, 1887 at Eidbostranda in the Tvedestrand municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway.  He was the 6^th of 7 children born to Laurits Olsen and Amalie Lovise Jensdatter Christoffersen.

The Eidbostranda house is located in the small village of Sagesund located on the shore of the Oksefjorden Fjord (a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier).  The village is now mostly a summer vacation location.

Josiah W. Bagby

Tuesday, February 4 is World Cancer Day.  It is a day to raise awareness about cancer.  So today's post will be about Josiah W. Bagby who died of cancer in 1913.

The Rhode Avenue Houses

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020-04)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a series of weekly prompts to get you to think about an ancestor and share something about them. The weekly prompt is provided by www.amyjohnsoncrow.com. The prompt for the week of January 22 is "Close To Home."

As a response to this genealogy blogging prompt, I have decided to update an early family history blogging post that I wrote in 2015.  How does this post fit the topic?  My great grandparents, their daughter (my grandmother) and their son all lived side by side in North Merrick, New York.

James "Billy" Ladson Rogers

Happy Birthday Billy!  

This week it is Billy's 100th birthday!   I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for Billy, but his death certificate lists January 23, 1920 as his birthdate.